Making a porchetta roast tonight. I rubbed a bone-in, skin-on pork shoulder with the herb/spice mixture Saturday. The fridge smells wonderful. I'll try to post photos. Len's been trying to get me to make this since I met him almost 15 years ago! (I don't like to rush into things. )

Hello. My name is Carrie, and I...I....still like oaked Chardonnay. (Please don't judge.)

I needed a quick one for dinner tonight. Went through my folder for quick and easy and came up with a chicken and rice dish that I had everything for. Chicken breast pieces are sautéed in olive oil and set aside. Add rice and onion to pan along with sweet fresh peppers, and sauté. One can of tomatoes is added, along with a jar of roasted red peppers. Then white wine, chicken broth, fresh rosemary, parsley, frozen petite peas, saffron and s&p. I add fresh lemon juice and more parsley at the finish. great comport food and very tasty. Sereving with greens from the garden, baby cukes, baby turnips, and yellow pear tomatoes, with a shallot and citrus vinaigrette.

Karen/NoCA wrote:I needed a quick one for dinner tonight. Went through my folder for quick and easy and came up with a chicken and rice dish that I had everything for. Chicken breast pieces are sautéed in olive oil and set aside. Add rice and onion to pan along with sweet fresh peppers, and sauté. One can of tomatoes is added, along with a jar of roasted red peppers. Then white wine, chicken broth, fresh rosemary, parsley, frozen petite peas, saffron and s&p. I add fresh lemon juice and more parsley at the finish. great comport food and very tasty. Sereving with greens from the garden, baby cukes, baby turnips, and yellow pear tomatoes, with a shallot and citrus vinaigrette.

Karen, do you put the chicken back onto to the rice mixture and bake? Sounds tasty!

Hello. My name is Carrie, and I...I....still like oaked Chardonnay. (Please don't judge.)

Karen/NoCA wrote:I needed a quick one for dinner tonight. Went through my folder for quick and easy and came up with a chicken and rice dish that I had everything for. Chicken breast pieces are sautéed in olive oil and set aside. Add rice and onion to pan along with sweet fresh peppers, and sauté. One can of tomatoes is added, along with a jar of roasted red peppers. Then white wine, chicken broth, fresh rosemary, parsley, frozen petite peas, saffron and s&p. I add fresh lemon juice and more parsley at the finish. great comport food and very tasty. Serving with greens from the garden, baby cukes, baby turnips, and yellow pear tomatoes, with a shallot and citrus vinaigrette.

Karen, do you put the chicken back onto to the rice mixture and bake? Sounds tasty!

I have marinating in the fridge, bone-in pork chops coated with olive oil, marjoram, fresh chopped sage, s & p. These will go on the grill. We love these because this produces very moist chops.Also, new potatoes, yellow and red steamed, then coated with butter and garden parsley. Butter nut squash halves, with butter, and warm spices, baked until nicely caramelized.

For a few lunches next week, I made a soup from home made chicken stock, and loaded up the pot with zucchini, carrots, onion, fresh tomatoes, cannellini beans, , fresh green beans and a little Seme di melone to thicken the soup. Fresh bay leaves, thyme sprigs, s & p add flavor to this simple soup. I'm enjoying watching Laura Calder's French Food at Home and this is from her "how the French do veggies" episode. So far, I have found most of her food rather bland, because I prefer bold flavors. From the little I have watched, she prefers to have the food itself shine and refers to buying the best and freshest quality you can buy, which I always do. I do like to bump up the flavors, however. This weekend I want to try her cooked cucumbers, and lso the cooked radishes which are cooked in sugar water. I'm hoping the Farmer's Market still has the beautiful black radishes I saw last week.

Breakfast of champions! Fresh fruit - varies with the season - and plain, unsweetened yogurt ... okay, just a dab of brown sugar to kick it up a notch. This morning's feast: a juicy ripe Bartlett pear, blueberries and pomegranate. Healthy and delicious ... what's not to like?

Robin Garr wrote:Breakfast of champions! Fresh fruit - varies with the season - and plain, unsweetened yogurt ... okay, just a dab of brown sugar to kick it up a notch.

This is my breakfast pretty much 365 days a year. Only I don't add sugar. Although I do often add prunes.

Right now am mainly eating it with clementines, persimmons, or pears, or some combination of those three. Sometimes raspberries, as our farmers market is still churning out gorgeous raspberries, but I generally find them too light for breakfast.

Lovely lunch today. I am really enjoying these fresh Carolina shrimp, so I baked a few and then put them in a simple broth of ginger and soy sauce with udon noodles topped with cilantro and Japanese plum vinegar. Really nice. Side dish of sauteed carrots and cauliflower as well, because of course we need lots of vegetable content in our meals!

I realize that it's a hedonistic improvisation, but I do enjoy the flavor and crunch that just a teaspoon of brown, raw or turbinado sugar adds to the mix.

Yeah, similar principle for my addition of prunes, although from a slightly different angle. They bring a lot to the dish when it's blandish pears or mild melons, although it can get too intense if I have a dead-ripe persimmon.